About
who we are…
The Lodebar Initiative is a ministry of Global Outreach International.
We subscribe to the Mission Statement, Core Values and Statement of Belief listed on the Global Outreach website.
Global Outreach International is a member of the Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability (ECFA).
what we do…
We provide food, clothing, medicine, other basic items...and schooling for desperate Syrian children--and we do it in the name of the one who requires us to show concern for “the least of these.”
what is the background?
The war in Syria has been accurately described as: “the greatest humanitarian tragedy since World War II”.
400,000 Syrians (many of them children) have been killed
5,000,000 Syrians have fled to other countries
2,000,000 Syrian children are not in school
It has now been 10 years since this crisis, and these numbers have only increased! As of 2021, there are now more than 11 million Syrians in need of humanitarian aid.
why “Lodebar”…
(Read II Samuel 9 for background)
Lodebar is the place where Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, grandson of Saul, was taken as a child when his father and grandfather were killed in battle.
Like millions of Syrians today, Mephibosheth was a refugee from war.
And it was to this desolate place, Lodebar, that King David sent an invitation to Mephibosheth to join him at the king’s table. David sent “good news” to Mephibosheth. We do the same for these Syrian families.
“Lodebar” in the Hebrew text means “no word” or “no promise”. Ancient Lodebar was a place where there was no hope.
Today, several hundred thousand Syrian children are destitute and without hope. We have formed The Lodebar Initiative in an effort to bring hope to those who desperately need it. We, as David did with Mephibosheth, offer an invitation to come out of the place with “no promise”.